A twisted fairy tail
by Sailoramber
Summary: in an alternate univere, it is Kagome, not Inuyasha who becomes the savior of fuedal japan, fighting against a demon even more terrible than Naraku. In this twisted world, who will come to her aid?
1. Chapter 1

Kagome; a twisted fairytale

A strange story of startling similarities and mind boggling differences

You might say that the theory of infinite realities is a myth, pure science fiction. You see the reality around us all and say "this is all that is; nothing else can possibly exist." You would be wrong.

For every action in one reality there is a different action in another reality. The result of which is this; the further away from the reality you are familiar with you get, the stranger the action necessary to create the reality you arrive in. The improbability also increases, until you reach a point in the universe where the impossible is, in fact, quite possible. Welcome to quantum mechanics.

Of course, long before you reach this level you will reach a point were you can no longer exist in a manner you can relate to, as life as a green blob of jelly is just not fun.

There is, however, a point you can go to that will seem the exact mirror of your dimension without losing any of the relative laws of physics for your particular universe. In reality, such as it is, this is more of a halfway point than a true opposite, but after this you would not be capable of comprehending more than the fact that you are now a blob of green jelly.

So, now that the strange endless army of simians with antiquated writing machines has finally come up with a decently worded Shakespearean play, I will tell you this story.

In other words, hang onto your seats, the monkeys' just handed me Macbeth!

**K**agome was pissed; we're not talking just a little pissed, we're talking red eyed murderous pissed. The kind of pissed you have to reach before you murder someone by skinning them alive. Which was unusual, because Kagome considered herself to be a fair and level headed person; usually she would only skin them after they were dead.

She kicked up, catching the punk in the head, and then, because the bastard was still standing, she punched him hard, just below the rib cage. There was a whooshing sound as his breath left him and he stumbled back four paces before he sank to the ground in an incoherent lump.

Kagome sneered at his fallen form before glaring at his two buddies, who suddenly decided they had much better things to be doing than molesting young girls in dark alleys, like shitting themselves.

Kagome stalked off and headed for home, leaving the three bullies in the ally. She did not stop at any of her usual haunts. Normally she would be wandering the streets for a few more hours before going home, but those punks just seemed to suck all the fun out of her day. There was just something about the necessity of beating up useless turds like them that really ruined her fun.

She only really enjoyed fighting when her opponent had enough skill to match hers. She wasn't a bully, and so fighting weaker opponents held no appeal to her. Kendo and classical swords training will do that to you. Archery was good too, but it didn't quite compare to the rush of losing yourself into the action of fighting your opponent up close and personal.

Kagome frowned, recalling a time when she had thought differently, a happier time. But then her father had been found dead, killed on his way home from work, and her perfect world had shattered.

Her mother had enrolled her in a kendo dojo, trying to give her daughter the ability to defend herself. Kagome took to it like a bird to the air; it was something she could lose herself in, a place were she could go and not think or feel, but move.

After a few years though, the dreams started to come back, and so she searched for more martial arts, hoping that if she learned enough, the knowledge would crowd the horror from her mind. It hadn't worked.

The belated grieving had marked her, scarring her permanently. She was bitter now, but still she kept fighting, working at swords and archery and hand to hand combat, hoping that maybe someday she would be able to fight the shadows that haunted her.

But the shadows were indefinable, and so she could not fight them; instead she lashed out at anyone around her; her mother, her grandfather, her teachers, there were some days she didn't even bother going to school, and she rarely came home before midnight.

And so it was that her mother was quite surprised when Kagome came through the door, swung her long black coat off, and sat down at the dinner table glaring around with her mascara lined eyes as if daring anyone to ask her why she was home. Her mother gave her a sad look but said nothing, and her grandfather apparently hadn't noticed her at all; he was telling Souta a story about something called the shikon jewel.

Kagome would have normally ignored the story altogether, but something about the tale seemed familiar. It would not have surprised her if her grandfather had told the story before, he often told stories many times, but Kagome was quite certain she had never heard this particular story before.

Kagome frowned slightly, poking at the lemon chicken in front of her with her chopsticks; she hadn't even noticed her mother set it in front of her. Something about the tale of the priestess, the demon lord and the swordswoman who traveled together to restore the sacred jewel to purity seemed familiar, but also wrong somehow. It was as if someone had taken her favorite fairytale and twisted it, so that the sleeping princess didn't fall in love with the prince but killed him instead. It was an odd thought; she didn't even like fairytales, let alone have a favorite one.

She blinked, breaking the spell the story had put over her with a shake of her head. She was being silly; it was just a story, a strangely familiar one, yes, but still a story. She turned to her chicken, eating only half of it before giving up and going to bed.

As she went about her nightly ablutions, she pondered the story; she couldn't seem to get it out of her head. It was just so odd; none of her grandfathers' stories had ever seemed that real; it was as if she could almost see the demon lord glaring at her with a dangerously blank expression, and could almost hear the priestess's melancholy voice.

As she settled into bed, scratching her cat Buyo behind the ears, she got a sudden image of a cat with three tails; it was such a strange image that she decided that she must be unusually tired if she were dreaming before she was even asleep. She promptly rectified the situation, slipping into a deep sleep, dreaming of dogs, cats, and funny pink rocks.

AN/ well here it is, the alternate reality fic I said I might do. I am presenting the first four chapters together as the first arc. Three guesses as to the characters identity.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kagome awoke early the next morning, as she usually did. Her brother had often wondered that such a grim character was a morning person, and, because Souta was the only person who Kagome did not feel she had a grudge against, she would just shake her head and go about her morning calisthenics, instead of reacting as she would to any body else, which was glaring murderously at them and possibly hitting them.

Buyo cleaned himself while she went about her exercises and stretches. Fifteen minutes of leg stretches, butterflies and backbends later, she brushed her hair, applied her mascara, and dressed herself.

She felt she might actually go to school today, so instead of wearing black cargo pants, she wore a calf length green skirt -not exactly uniform code thigh length, but the teachers knew better than to argue over it- black boots, and her strange adaptation of the uniform sailor top. She had cut the sleeves off, displaying her impressive biceps, and had chosen to secure the collar with a heavy chain instead of a scarf.

Ready to face the world, she made sure to pack the specific gi and weapon for each of the fighting styles she practiced into a satchel, intending also to go to her practices. She slung the bag over her back and walked out the door.

Buyo twined around here ankles as she paused in the door to don her long coat. In the blink of an eye Buyo shot off across the courtyard, hackles raised. Kagome sighed, excepting the inevitable; she would have to go retrieve him, as he was not an outside cat.

She saw a flicker of white as he disappeared inside the shrine her grandfather kept. Heading in that direction, she allowed herself a brief moment of annoyance at the feline; she had a strict schedule of moping she had to keep to damn it!

But as soon as she thought it she felt guilty, Buyo was her only friend, the only friend she allowed herself, anyway. He watched her cry, saw her getting dressed and listened to her darkest secrets, and she knew he would never tell a soul. It was a comforting thought, even if it was a bit strange; after all, who was he going to tell?

As she asked herself this question she came upon the door to the shrine her cat had disappeared into. The door was slightly ajar, and she could tell it was dark inside; unfortunately, it appeared that her grand father had neglected to update the shrine with electricity, as she found to her dismay upon entering and finding no light switch.

She moved carefully through the shrine, allowing her eyes time to adjust to the dim light. After a few moments she could see well enough to find Buyo; he was standing stock still, growling at a low structure in the center of the little building.

Curious, she felt her way to the structure and peered down at it; wondering what could possibly get the normally laid back cat to react so fiercely.

Upon reflection this had probably not been the smartest thing to do. No sooner had she leaned over, peering down into the darkness of what was apparently a well, than there was a blinding flash of light and she was falling into a blue mist. She tried to move, tried to reach up and cling for the edge, but found her movement restricted by what appeared to be many arms. Desperately she looked up; only to se a mournful looking cat fade into the mist.

The fall seemed to take forever, and no time at all. Franticly she struggled against her bonds, trying to free herself so she could brace for the fall. A raspy voice sounded in her ear

"I'm going to enjoy killing you." The voice chuckled

"After all it's not every day the shikon jewel falls into my lap."

Kagome paused in her struggle, puzzled. Shikon jewel? That was the same stone from the story last night! Kagome wondered if she were still dreaming, for it would certainly explain quite a bit, when a sharp pain lanced through her side.

Suddenly the blue mist was illuminated by a soft light, and a beautiful gem appeared, spilling out of her wound. Distantly she thought it was odd that she should bleed in such a manner, but was reassured a moment later when her familiar red blood began to creep from the wound as well.

Both Kagome and her captor watched, entranced, as the shining jewel almost seemed to float above them. Then the creature grasping her loosed one of it's arms to reach out for it, and almost instinctually Kagome lashed out; freeing one of her arms to grasp desperately at the stone; it had come out of her wound so it stood to reason that it was hers, and she was not going to let anything, not even a creature that looked like a cross between a woman and a centipede, have it.

Her hand found the jewel and a thrill of triumph rushed through her. Her fist around it seemed to shine with power, and the centipede creature gaped in surprise and fear as she struck at one of its many arms. To Kagome's shock and subsequent delight, the arm disintegrated as her fist holding the jewel sliced through it with the ease of a razor sharp katana.

At the loss of one of its arms, the creature that Kagome had unconsciously dubbed mistress centipede let go of her as if burned. Kagome turned, attempting to get a better look at it, when all sensation of movement stopped; it was like riding a fast elevator going down that slowed suddenly as it reached the desired floor; almost a feeling of weightlessness.

And then her feet were touching ground, the centipede creature flew up and out of the well, and she was wondering what the hell had just happened.

Warily she stood and dusted herself off, wondering dazedly when the white rabbit would show up. Right then it would not have surprised her if she met a creature with horns and a pitchfork; as surely mistress centipede had been a demon of hell as well.

It was dark at the bottom of the well; in fact, the only light she could see was coming from her hand. She opened her fist and in it she found the perfectly spherical jewel, what she could only assume was the shikon jewel.

It was entrancing to look at; it shown with an ethereal light, glittering in the darkness like a pearl, it was gossamer pink, and despite her aversion to the color, she could not help but admire its beauty. It was a perfect thing, and she was somewhat amazed that it had come out of her side.

The thought of her wound brought the stinging pain to her mind, she had not actually felt it consciously until that moment. She looked at it, twisting to examine it, and, in the nature of such wounds, as soon as she saw the slightly raged puncture staining her white blouse red with blood, the pain increased ten fold.

She hissed with pain as she pulled the wet fabric away from the wound; it was not long, maybe an inch in length, but it was deep, and from the feel of things she imagined there was a bit of muscle damage as well.

"Just great." She muttered. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was stuck at the bottom of the well, she had to climb out with muscle damage.

Shedding her coat for a moment, she stripped herself of her blood stained shirt and tied it around her waist as a makeshift bandage. She was about to put her long trench coat back on as a means to protect her modesty when she spotted her satchel just a foot behind her. She quickly unzipped it, and finding her green swords hakama to be the best choice, drew it out.

Shrugging into the hakama, and tucking the shikon jewel into the pocket of her trench coat, she surveyed her surroundings; Four dirt walls, three feet of walking space, and no ladder. She frowned; the walls were high enough that she couldn't see much light filtering down from the dim shed the well was stored in, but the were plenty of roots and hand holds.

Retrieving her coat and storing it in her satchel she shouldered the bag and set to the task of climbing out. She grasped a sturdy looking root and hauled herself up a foot before trying to get a foot hold, and was promptly hindered by her skirt.

Cursing her luck, her clothes, and any god that happened to be listening, she dropped back down to the ground and changed into her black gi trousers.

Thus attired, she set about her task once again; this time finding the only impediment to her ascension to be the wound in her side.

She gritted her teeth and did not let it slow her down, the sooner she was out of this well, the sooner it could be taken care of, and the sooner she could commit herself to a mental ward for a nice long vacation. In fact the more she thought about it, the more she became sure that this entire ordeal was just a hallucination, and that the wound in her side was just a figment of her imagination, grinding pain not-with-standing.

She gritted her teeth as dirt rained down on her from above and settled in her hair; just a few more feet and she would be free. Then she could go and happily spend the rest of her life in a white padded room and devote her time to the fine art of drooling out of the side of her mouth.

But then she thought '_what if I want to punch something_?' After all, straight jackets were so terribly restrictive; what if the man who thought he was invisible decided to steal her spagettioh's? She wouldn't be able to kick his ass if she was wearing a straight jacket, would she?

As she reached the wooden rim of the well, she decided it would be better for everyone if she just pretended the entire affair had never happened. She wouldn't tell anyone anything about her hallucination, that way she could just carry on living like she had been, and wouldn't have to worry about straight jackets.

But then, as she hauled herself out of the well at last, and found herself not in her grandfathers little shrine, but in a heavily wooded area instead, she reconsidered that last thought. She was obviously hallucinating, she didn't know what kind of drug she was on, or were she had gotten it, but it must be good stuff, the vision was so real that she could actually hear the birds chattering in the trees.

_Yep_, she thought _I've lost it. No use whining about it now, if I'm insane I might as well enjoy the ride._ And so she set about exploring this world that was apparently a figment of her imagination.

The first thing she noticed was that it was sunset, almost dark, and there was an eerie pall that hung over the woods. It was a strange sensation, it was not scary exactly, but it twisted her insides into a knot, making her feel inexplicably tense. It was a terrible feeling, but one that she was well acquainted with; it was the same feeling she got when thinking about the shadowy corners of her mind.

Wishing for a light, she tried her best to ignore the creeping suspicion that she was not hallucinating. She looked around her in the rapidly growing dark, looking for anything that might be of use in figuring out were she was. It was then that she saw the only other distinguishing feature in the landscape; a large tree that seemed familiar somehow, more so than just the sense that it was a tree like the trees she had seen all her life. Admittedly, being a city girl, she didn't know much about trees, but she was fairly certain that you didn't see a lot of trees with people pinned to them.

Doing the only thing that seemed at all productive, she moved to investigate it. Upon closer inspection she found that the person was a woman; she was wearing the red and white garb of the old Shinto priestesses. Thick vines had grown up around her, appearing to cradle the shrine maiden against the trunk, but Kagome didn't think that was what had put her there; she was guessing that the arrow had done that.

A long shafted arrow protruded from the miko's breast, and Kagome stood on one of the trees great roots to get a closer look at the arrow, thinking thoughts of cults and ritualistic sacrifices. What on earth was this poor woman doing pinned to the tree? What kind of sick people had killed her in such a fashion?

She touched the arrow, looking for any identifying marks or clues that would tell her who had murdered the woman. As soon as she touched the arrow, however, it felt like she was being pulled a great distance. It was a wrenching sensation that made her want to vomit, and then-

_She ran, panic and fury warring with each other in her mind; around her the flames roared into the sky, burning the village she had sworn to protect. A weak voice called out to her but she ignored it, because she had to find him._

_She had trusted him, and now he had betrayed her, as she should have known he would. The taste of bile caught in her throat, choking her with the irony of it all. She had her bow in her hand, an arrow knocked, charged and ready. She would find him, and take back what was hers. _

_She had been such a fool to trust him, and now people were dying because of her folly, well no more, she would end him, once and for all._

_She ran to the forest, were she knew he would run to. He was waiting for her. But it was not him, she realized; he was different, but no matter, he had to die- what ever the cost. _

_He stepped from behind a tree; arms crossed insolently, the jewel dangling from his claws_

_She brought her bow up instantly, aiming for his traitorous heart. She hesitated a moment as a tear swept down her cheek, and then fired._

_Her breath caught in her throat as he caught the arrow with a contemptuous flick of his wrist. He appeared to ignore the scorch of burning flesh as the arrow attempted to purify him. _

_Then suddenly he was right in front of her, claw to her throat and arrow still in hand. Her breath burst from her body as he slammed her into a tree, holding her up by her neck._

_She struggled to breathe as he held the arrow before her eyes, hand smoking. She watched in horror as he corrupted the purity of the arrow, enveloping it in black flame, and then with a sneer, ran the tainted arrow through her heart. _

Freed from the grip of the vision, Kagome collapsed to the ground, hand clutching convulsively around the arrow shaft. She curled up on the ground suppressing the urge to weep; the feeling of hate and betrayal had been so strong it had been debilitating.

She was curled around the arrow, holding it so tightly she thought it would snap. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain of the memory.

Breath shuddering, she struggled to regain use of her senses, it felt like a losing battle, but little by little, she regained the use of her cognitive functions.

She was considering the possibility of trying to go to sleep right there to see if she would wake up in her own bed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Screaming, she scrambled away, hands digging into the mulch on the forest floor, looking up to see-

She paused for a moment, blinking to clear her eyes, for there, looking down at her with a concerned expression, Kagome saw her own face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kagome screamed again, just for good measure. The dead woman, the woman that possessed Kagomes' face, came towards her. Kagome scrambled to her feet, wishing she had paid more attention in psychology; what did it mean when she saw herself dead and than coming back to life? Whatever the case was, Kagome felt that she surely would have issues after this.

"What sort of demon are you that you wear my face? Has your master not tormented me enough?" the apparition of herself asked, in a voice that thankfully, was not her own. It was lower, older, melancholy; it was a voice that held the weight of much bitterness and betrayal. With a shock, Kagome realized she had heard the voice before; it was the exact voice she had imagined the priestess in the story would have.

Kagome glanced around the dark woods frantically, fully expecting a demon lord and a swordswoman appear out of thin air. This was thankfully not the case, so she turned her attention to the most immediate threat.

The woman in front of her had stopped her approach, gazing at her critically, as a scientist would look at a promising specimen. Her sharp eyes unnerved Kagome. It didn't help that Kagome kept having this unsettling urge to trust her implicitly.

It was a very strange feeling; Kagome didn't trust anyone but herself; because, eventually, they always let her down. She wondered if the miko was using her strange priestess-y powers on her. Yes that was it, she was trying to lull her into a false sense of security before sprouting fangs and eating her entrails.

Kagome was jolted out of this train of thought as the priestess; apparently tired of waiting for her to answer, spoke again.

"You act guiltily, yet now I can see that you are not a demon. I know that I was sealed to the tree for a very long time, for I could feel him come to taunt me. Are you perhaps a descendant of Kiaede?" the woman with Kagomes' face looked at her expectantly, patiently waiting for an answer.

Kagome meanwhile seemed to have lost the use of her larynx, and so answered instead with the ever popular monosyllable;

"huh?" the priestess frowned at her, expecting more of an answer. But then she appeared to think of something, as her brow furrowed and she looked off in another direction.

Without warning she took of running in the direction of her gaze, leaving Kagome in the dust. Kagome blinked and gave up wondering what was going on. Instead she chose to follow the woman, as she was the only person who might have any idea were 'here' was; though by the looks of her she seemed to be having enough problems as it was.

She wondered suddenly if the vision she had witnessed had been the priestesses last moments before being 'sealed', whatever that meant. If so, there was no telling how long she had been there, or if there was anything left of the village she had seen in the vision, which she felt fairly certain was were the priestess was going.

This was all guesswork on Kagomes' part, but it seemed the most likely chain of reasoning, and so she came to the conclusion that she likely had nothing to fear from the miko. It was a comforting thought.

As she moved through the trees, she realized that the pervasive tension in the air was getting stronger, it was as if she were moving through a curtain of fear now, and it was getting stronger by the stride.

By the time she drew with in sight of the tree line, she had to physically steal herself for whatever she was about to face; through the tree line she could see eerie flashes of green light. An unearthly wail rent the air, sending shivers down her spine.

She could also hear sounds of a scuffle, and, fearing the worst, she crossed the tree line into the open.

The scene that greeted her was a scene from the seventh level of hell. The charred remains of a village lay upon the earth like a smashed melon. And from the ruined shell were pouring creatures that defied description. They wore tattered clothing that hung upon them like sacks, enhancing their gruesomely skeletonic features. There faces were twisted and misshapen, eyes bulging out and teeth bared in rhictus snarls. With them they carried weaponry that looked as if it had once been farming equipment.

Then she spotted the priestess; she was fighting the demons desperately, but she had no weapon, and was being rapidly overwhelmed. It was obvious to Kagome that she needed help, badly.

Kagome remembered that in the vision the miko had used a bow. Thanking the gods that she had brought her satchel with her, she almost tore it open in her haste to find a weapon. Her hand found what she was looking for when it closed around her bow and quiver; she also drew out her katana and tucked it through her belt for herself.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her trench coat pocket glowing, and remembered with a start the ease with which her fist had punched through the centipede creatures arm, she pulled it out. Knowing that nothing could hurt at this point, she tucked the shikon jewel into her hakama, and turned; bow and quiver slung over her shoulder and sword in hand, to the overwhelming swarm of demons.

There seemed to be hundreds of them, and they were still coming. It was ridiculous to think that two lone women could defeat such a hoard, but Kagome went any way. She was not thinking logically, she knew, but then, nothing that had happened to her so far had any sort of rational explanation either.

Heavy clouds hung over the village; they were awash in the evil green glow that seemed to emanate from the center of the burned out dwellings. The effect was surreal, Kagome felt as if she was swimming through a sea of evil.

Kagome took a deep breath, preparing herself, and then so suddenly that it startled the swarming creatures, she charged, emitting a battle cry that chilled the black hearts of the demons. Many of them swung toward her frantically, expecting to see a cavalry charge of armored samurai. Sadly this was not the case; Kagome was unaided, a lone girl charging to do battle with a thousand demons.

If anyone had been watching, it would have been a thing of ballads, but the only ones watching were the demons, and one way or the other, they certainly wouldn't be writing any songs about her. Except perhaps about how good she tasted, she mused morbidly.

She hit the line of demons and drew her sword in a diagonal slash, taking four of them out in the first cut. Blood sprayed her as they fell and four more swarmed in to take their place. They too, fell as she moved forward, slashing and cutting.

They began to close around behind her as well, and she fell into the ease of motion of a whirlwind, basing her attacks on the katas she had learned so long ago.

The creatures fell with ridiculous ease, and Kagome would have walked away in disgust if she were on her own, but she was trying to help the priestess that had her face, and so she went to the task of cutting a path to the beleaguered woman.

The miko was not doing well; she seemed to be able to purify the demons with her hands, but she had to do it one at a time. Already she appeared to be suffering from severe lacerations and bruises, as well as a deep gash over her eye.

Kagome intensified her efforts to reach her, despite growing fatigue. To focus herself she counted her enemies as they fell. _Twelve, thirteen, fourteen fifteen;_ she dodged a scythe, then ran the user through, just in time to turn and cut a demon in half as it leapt at her. _Eighteen, nineteen, twenty;_ she pivoted on her heel and reversed her sword, running her katana through an emaciated stomach and then ripping her sword sideways, cutting through its side and slashing three more as they rushed her. _Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine;_ she moved so fast her blade seemed to glow, suffused with a soft light. _Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty;_ her sword was red, and blood flew even before she made her cuts, spraying the demons with their kins' blood as it flew from her katana. _Forty-nine, fifty;_ she eviscerated one with a deep slice, and then she was at the priestesses side.

As Kagome threw her the bow and arrows, she realized that she did not even know the mikos name, and yet she was charging kamikaze style to her aid. Why was she doing it? It was suicidal, and yet she would have done the same for Souta, it was the same feeling of sisterly protection. Perhaps it was merely self preservation; the other woman did look exactly like her after all.

She was back to back with the shrine maiden now, Kagome with her sword flashing and the priestess holding the bow, but fighting only with an arrow, because the demons were to close to get a good shot at. She was using the arrow to stab her opponents, and, as in the vision, the tip shone with a bright light. As soon as the arrow touched a demon, the creature would disintegrate. It was quite effective, and Kagome began to believe they might get out of this situation alive.

"We have to get to the center of the village, that is were their leader is. Without it they will descend into chaos." The miko told her tensely. Kagome nodded, then, realizing her back was to the woman and she couldn't see her, spoke

"Good."

The priestess began moving through the hoard, mercilessly purifying anything in her path. She had given up holding the bow at all, it was hanging over her shoulder, and she now held two arrows. Her wrists darted about like snakes, seeking any openings and striking lightning quick, purifying the creatures so quickly that their disintegrated remains seemed to create a haze over the battle field.

The green light grew brighter and brighter the further they advanced, until the light was so bright that Kagome could see every horrifying detail of her opponents face. No longer were they half seen nightmares, now she could see them for the full blown monstrosities they were, right down to the oozing puss.

Her arms were truly beginning to ache from the abuse, and from the wake of bodies in their path, she knew she was justified. There must have been over two hundred demons lying in their path. She could do two hundred push ups easily, but she had never imagined she would be able to fight a pitched battle with an army of two. Two hundred was a hysterical number; it was like a hit counter on a video game; unrealistic. Yet here she was fighting a battle against an army of demons, and her only fellow soldier was a woman Kagome had thought was dead thirty minutes ago.

Whatever this was, be it dream, hallucination, or reality, it was the strangest thing that had ever happened to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Reality. The crushing weight of reality bore down on her, as Kagome suddenly realized that whatever was happening to her; it was real. The world around her seemed to slow as she struggled to comprehend the enormity of it; she was, whether she liked it or not, in the middle of a very real battle, fighting equally real demons.

Real demons; she felt dazed at the thought, demons were creatures of fairytales and legends, yet here they were, living and dying by her blade. It was as if a haze had been lifted from her eyes. The shock of everything that had happened to her had finally burned out of her system and she realized that she was in very real danger.

She waited for panic to come, waited for the hysterics she knew a normal person would succumb to upon this realization. They did not come, all she felt was the warriors calm her instructors had instilled within her through years of training. Maybe after she finished the battle she would panic, but not right now. Right now, her life was in danger, and she was going to do something about it. Kagome decided this was a good thing.

She lay about with her katana, decapitating, eviscerating and generally mutilating any demon that got in her way. So focused was she on the fight that she was startled when the priestess at her back came to a stop.

They had reached the center of the village. The source of the green light was now apparent; a great circle of green light lay on the ground, the edge was comprised of kanji writing out dark spells, piercing the night with their awful glow. Shafts of light shot through the night, writing out the evil lettering on the clouds above.

It was the figure in the center that caught Kagomes' attention, however. What appeared to be a little girl of twelve stood poised in the center, face down turned, as if in concentration. She felt wrong somehow; Kagome could not put her finger on it, but she knew somehow that the girl was not human. She could feel the waves of fear emanating from her, the same waves that she had been feeling since her arrival in the woods. This girl was the source of them.

Kagome tried to rush at the girl, to cut down the source of evil, but was stopped abruptly as green lightning crackled before her. And try as she might, Kagome could not step over the barrier the spells had written into the ground.

Kagome turned to the miko, hoping for some guidance on the matter, only to see the other woman standing stock still, eyes wide in a look of absolute shock.

"Kiaede." The word slipped from the mikos mouth as if she were dropping her weapon. It was the sound of a person's last defense in the world slipping away. It was the sound of a heart breaking.

The seething mass around them froze, seemingly rooted to the spot.

The little girls head snapped up, revealing the face of torment itself. And up from inside the depths of that face a dark light shown, casting her face into rigid shadows. Kagome could only see one of her eyes; and in that eye was a sickly yellow light, the personification of hate and suffering.

"You!" in that single word was conveyed a depth of anger and sadness that Kagome had never seen before, and hoped to never again. The girl had leveled a finger at the priestess, a wretched snarl contorting her features.

The priestess stood motionless, every line of her body seeming to scream of absolute despair; Kagome wanted to weep for her, so deep was the emotion coursing through the woman's body.

"Sister Kikyo." the girl spoke with a sneer, her glowing eye piecing them with a gaze of pure contempt. Then a flicker of confusion crossed over her face, and the girls' eye flicked from Kagome to the priestess, who Kagome now knew was called Kikyo.

In that flicker of indecisiveness Kikyo had her bow in hand and was aiming for the demon girl.

"What have you done to Kiaede?" the mikos voice shook slightly, but her aim did not waver.

"Done? I haven't done anything sister; I _am_ Kiaede."

"You're not Kiaede, you're a demon." Kikyo spat with fury.

"I am Kiaede! And because of you, I am a demon as well!" the girl roared.

"No." disbelief was laced through the mikos word, edged with the despairing knowledge that it was the truth.

"Are you are not aware of the consequences of your failure fifty years ago, after you allowed Inuyasha to take the jewel?" Kiaede spoke fiercely; hate oozing from every pore on her body. Kikyo shook her head, deliberate denial written over her features; she did not want to believe anything that the evil thing before them was saying.

"No? Then let me refresh your memory." It was awful to hear, and Kagome did not want to know the story, for it must have taken an act of the most heinous nature to rend a human soul into the fragmented mockery that stood before her. But despite Kagomes' silent wishes, the demon went on.

"When you failed, Inuyasha came here; his eyes were red with madness and the villagers thought he was here to finish us off, but no, he had something much worse in mind."

"He defiled the ground in the worst ways imaginable, twisting it till it was as evil as he, and then he turned on the villagers, ripping their very souls from their bodies and leaving mindless husks behind. He was about to do the same to me when he paused, he told me I had power and strength, and that I could use that power to become even stronger. The little girl I was then struggled and refused, attempting to make him kill her instead of what he had done to the villagers. Inuyasha laughed and then sunk his claws into her body, touching her soul but not taking it, twisting it into a mockery of its former self."

"Do you know what a terrible thing it was that he did?" she asked Kikyo, the priestess nodded numbly. Kiaedes' face twisted with rage.

"No you don't! You could never know what happened that day, the despicable acts visited upon the innocent girl by the claws of evil! I am evil!" the girl looked as if she where ready to attack them, poised to spring, but the priestess did nothing.

Silent tears coursed down the mikos cheeks, seeming to sparkle with blue light. She dropped her bow, and slowly she began to move forward, body shaking with suppressed sobs. Kagome waited for the barrier to stop her, to crackle with that awful light and impede her way, but it did not. Kagome watched in awe as the priestesses tears fell to the ground, swirling with a pure radiant light, falling onto the corrupted place were the spells of evil created the barrier.

As each tear fell, the kanji were washed away in splashes of shining color, bringing purity to a place that had rested so long in the darkness. And then Kikyo was inside the barrier, walking towards Kiaede blindly as her grief drove her onwards.

Kagome expected Kiaede to attack, to spring upon Kikyo and rend her limb from limb, but she did not. She watched with her single yellow eye, waiting as Kikyo advanced, and flinching with pain as each of the priestesses' tears touched the ground.

"Why do you not fight?" Kagome heard herself whisper. The glaring yellow eye turned on her, sending icy chills down her spine.

"Because I am an abomination." That single statement held such a weight that Kagome saw the heart of the demon; underneath all the hate and pain and suffering, was a lonely little girl who had lost her sister. And then Kikyo was before her; tears streaming tracks of light along her face, holding her arms out to the demon.

There was a moment of indecision, a flicker of fear across Kiaedes face, before she fell into her sisters' embrace, and together they cried; the anguish of the years separating them and the pain of betrayal flowing out in a river of grief, as two sisters reunited at last.

In between her tears, Kiaede struggled to speak;

"It is too late to save me, sister." Kikyo smoothed the child demons' hair and spoke softly;

"I know."

"Then release me." Silently Kikyo nodded; already her tears were cutting pearlesent tracks through the girls face, making it shine with a new light. Kikyo began to shimmer with purity, and then the girl in her arms shone with blinding light, making Kagome throw up her arms to protect her eyes. When she brought down her arms, Kiaede was no longer there. A silver orb hung in the air a moment, radiating a shining joy that made Kagome feel glad. And on the night wind Kagome thought she heard the words;

"Thank you." before the sphere ascended into the clouds, the heavy thunder heads parting in its wake.

The radiant moonlight shone down on Kagome and Kikyo through the parted clouds, and before here eyes, Kagome watched as the lettering on the ground grew fainter and fainter, until the circle of tainted ground was purified entirely.

And in the middle of the lost village, amidst the ashes of demons destroyed by their masters' death, Kikyo lay upon the ground and wept.

AN/ until I receive positive reviews I will not be posting the next chapter, So start typing.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Kagome trudged through the ashes of the village that Kikyo had called Edo; she was no history buff, but everyone knew Edo was now Tokyo, _or rather will be Tokyo_, she amended to herself. Kagome was getting a creeping suspicion she had traveled through time. She wasn't sure how or why, but she suspected it had something to do with the blue mists back in the well.

As she poked about the ruined place looking for anything of use to her, she shot a glance back at the sleeping miko. She was covered up in Kagomes' trench coat and Kagome didn't begrudge her the sleep or the coat, it hadn't been her sister that had just died.

Though Kagomes' understanding of the subject only went so far, she suspected that if she were in Kikyos' shoes she would not be able to cope; one minute she's hunting a demon that betrayed her, the next she's being woken up from a fifty year binding by a girl of questionable intent, and then she's fighting a battle with said girl against a thousand demons, only to discover that her dear little sister has become a demon and she then has to purify her.

And Kagome thought she was having problems.

She had only had time to ask one question before the miko had passed out, and that was to ask were she was; the priestess had looked at her oddly before telling her groggily that she was in the ruins of Edo.

The ruins of Edo.

This day just kept getting better and better.

Kagome began to wonder when Dorothy was going to drop a house on her, and briefly considered tapping the shikon jewel three times and saying 'there's no place like home.' The only thing that stopped her was that she was afraid that it might actually work.

Kagome lifted up a charred slab of wood, looking for something she could use for a tent or a blanket, but most important on her mind was food; she would not trust anything she found in the village, and she was no hunter, hell, she wouldn't even know how to begin.

She did not know how to set snares, nor bait hooks or track animals, all she had was a sharp sword and quick reflexes. She considered taking the bow and attempting to find something in the woods, but quickly dismissed the idea; how was she supposed to find the animal to kill it? That left her with one option; she might be able to spear fish using her katana in the river she knew was around here somewhere. It couldn't be that hard right?

Wrong. Two hours later she found herself standing in the middle of the river with her pant legs rolled up and her hakama sleeves tied back, sword poised above the water. Her feet were numb, her teeth were chattering, and she had not caught one fish. Life was unfair, it truly was.

Kagome knew that if she did not catch something soon, she would have to give up or risk frostbite. Angrily, she punched at the surface of the water, no longer caring if she splashed herself. It was then that something truly odd happened.

A shock wave pulsed through the water, radiating outwards from her fist; it was not just a ripple caused when water was disturbed, it was a literally supersonic shock wave. Kagome knew this because it knocked her legs out from underneath her, spilling her into the water. The cold water drenched her as she fell with a loud splash, and she struggled to the surface before gasping in shock. The river burbled quietly, as if it were laughing at her. She could almost hear it saying; _'That'll teach you to throw a snit.'_

She sat in the water miserably and slapped its surface; much more gently this time, and told it to shut up.

Its only response was to continue its whispering laugh.

Kagome stood, water pouring everywhere, and began the slow slog to the shore. She reached land and began the tedious process of stripping out of her wet clothes. She stripped out of her hakama and let it fall to the ground. She saw her sailor top tied around her waist and looked at it blankly for a moment before remembering that oh yes, she was injured.

She was just about to untie that as well when she noticed that her discarded hakama was wriggling in the most curious fashion. She picked it up, trying to decide whether or not she needed to kill this as well, when five, count them, five fish spilled out of the voluminous sleeves. Kagome gaped down at the writhing mass, closely resembling a fish herself for a moment, before bursting into laughter.

Oh, the irony of it all. She bowed to the river, stifling her laughter and thanking it for this most fortunate catch, for there was no doubt in her mind that it was likely responsible for the fish that had decided to have their family gathering in her sleeves. It was just crazy enough to make sense here in this place.

She finished climbing out of her damp clothing, no longer grumpy at being wet. She quickly changed into what was now her third set of clothing that day, her black gi top, and her black swordsman haori. Quickly tying her fish up in her wet hakama, she set off back to the burned out village, intending to ask Kikyo how one went about cooking and cleaning fish.

Everything was as she had left it upon her return, the priestess still sleeping beneath her trench coat amidst the ashes, and, not wanting to disturb her slumber just yet; Kagome emptied the fish out of her hakama on relatively clean plank of wood and went about making a fire.

Kagome, being a city girl, didn't know much about building fires outdoors, but unlike fishing, it turned out to be fairly easy to do; she had wood and tinder, and thankfully, she also had a lighter.

Kagome was not a smoker; in fact, the very idea of coating her lungs with a slow acting poison was abhorrent to her, she was, however a firm believer in being prepared; you never knew when you were going to have to set something on fire.

Soon a merry blaze was cackling in a small crater of scooped out ash, and Kagome jabbed some long sticks into the ground and hung her wet clothes upon them. Her green hakama smelled of fish, but this did not irk her; at least she had fish, going hungry was not a prospect she relished.

As she warmed herself by the fire waiting for the priestess to wake up, she took stock of her situation. She had three weapons, her katana, her bow, and a pocket knife; four if she counted her body. She also possessed her black gi, her black swordsmen haori and green hakama, her archer haori and hakama along with the accompanying arm guard, her black great coat, and an implausibly glowing gem. Kagome wondered if she should classify the gem as a weapon.

She distinctly remembered how her fist had cut through mistress centipedes arms, and the way in which her katana had glowed during the battle, clearly this shikon jewel possessed some manner of power.

The odd thing was, she knew that if the jewel had come out of her side its power must have been present all her life, yet she had never done anything like that on the other side of the well. Another fact that struck her as bewildering was that she had not been anywhere near the jewel when she had created the shockwave in the water; she had left it on shore with her satchel for fear that she would lose it. She was unsure what this meant, but perhaps the priestess would have the answers.

As if in response to her thoughts, Kikyo stirred in her sleep. Kagome looked at her quickly, wondering if she would awake, but this was not to be; the woman's brow furrowed in her sleep, as if fighting something internal, but did not wake. Kagome sighed and turned back to the fire, taking the jewel in her hand to examine it in another light than its own.

It still shone with an internal brilliance, but in the fire light Kagome could see through to the pale spheres center. What she saw made her blood run cold; in its center was a wisp of the purest black, writhing within the light, but still there. Kagome was unsure why this unsettled her so, but she knew somehow that it was a terrible thing, as evil as the army of empty shells she had fought earlier.

This presence of evil almost made her wake the priestess prematurely, to ask her why a jewel of such fabled purity would be tainted, but she restrained herself. She could let the miko sleep a little longer, the thread of evil was not growing, it was merely there, and she still felt that Kikyo deserved her rest. The only thing that kept Kagome herself awake was the obligation she felt she had to the revived priestess, it was her, after all that had released the woman from whatever dark magic had bespelled her. While the priestess may not have had the most glamorous fates being stuck to a tree, she had at least not seemed to be suffering any harm. It appeared to Kagome that this Inuyasha character, the one she had seen in the vision and Kiaede had spoken of had been content to leave her there, sealed to the tree. She could not say the same now however, there was no telling how many might wish to harm the priestess, now that she was free.

By extension, this would effect Kagome too, a fact that rested none too easily on her mind. Who was this Inuyasha, who bound Kikyo with evil, and twisted a little girl in such a manner that was unspeakable, not to mention as good as killing the villagers of this place, turning them into mindless servants of a greater demon?

Kagome shuddered to think of the answer; surely he was a demon of the most heinous caliber. She remembered him from the vision as well, standing insolently with the jewel dangling from his claws like a cheap bauble. His hair was deep black, dark enough to see your darkest nightmares in; and it meshed easily with long black jackal ears atop his head. His face was fair, but his beauty was spoiled by the sneer in his conniving yellow eyes.

Despite the fact that Kagome had never physically beheld him, she marked his face as that of an enemy. She knew that he was an enemy like she had never fought before, and knew also that the injustices he had visited upon this place would not go unpunished.

Suddenly the world seemed brighter and the air fresher; and Kagome realized that it was not the world that was better, it was her. She had a purpose, something she had lacked through most of her life. She had found something and had dedicated herself to it wholly, so that her mind focused, and her life had more meaning.

Here in this time of demons and priestesses, of magic and laughing rivers, Higurashi Kagome had found her calling.


End file.
